EDMOND — Surging down the muddy home stretch of the Class 5A state cross country race, Gage McElhaney was freaking out.
It wasn’t because the Elgin sophomore’s first mile was clocked at 5:11 amongst a pack of 20 runners.
It wasn’t because McElhaney was unsure of his tender right leg, which he shattered during a offseason wrestling tournament when breaking his tibia and fibula in addition to fracturing the growth plate in his ankle which required four screws being inserted.
It wasn’t because he was in a boot for four months and doctors told him he likely wouldn’t be able to run this year.
McElhaney was freaking out because the possibility of achieving his preseason goal of becoming an All-State cross country runner with a top-10 finish was becoming a reality on Saturday morning at Edmond Santa Fe High School.
With one final surge — sandwiched in a pack of four runners separated by two seconds — McElhaney medaled and crossed the 5K finish line in 8th place in a time of 17 minutes flat.
“I was freaking out. Mind blown, really,” said McElhaney, who finished 23rd as a freshman. “I was flashing back to last year and what it felt like to not come through with the finish I wanted. I’ve been shooting for this the past two years so it means a lot being All-State after my injury.”
Another elite Elgin runner, senior Kamree Castle, got the finish she wanted in the final race of her high school career as the decorated Owl — who also was crowned Homecoming Queen this fall — finished in 15th place in a time of 21:12 to earn a medal and All-State honorable mention a year after placing 10th and earning All-State honors.
Castle — who was in 12th place near the 2-mile mark and heading into her second loop through the woods before the home stretch — momentarily glanced over her shoulder and smiled in the final 100 meters. She was going to medal in her final race.
“I put so much work into this and it’s basically my life,” Castle said. “If I didn’t get 15th, it would’ve meant nothing. Being my last year, it was really emotional. Medaling makes it a lot sweeter.”
Castle’s teammate, Megan Pratt, finished 41st in 22:24 in her first year of distance running.
“It’s very encouraging going into track because Megan is an 800 runner. Now that she’s succeeded at this, that distance will feel like nothing,” Elgin girls cross country coach Tomi Lorah said. “She’s always been a 400 and an 800 girl, but she’s really embraced the distance and is absolutely obsessed with it now.”
Building her Castle
It was 102 degrees on Castle’s first day of cross country practice in Elgin, Oklahoma when she and her family moved here from Hawaii her freshman year.
Castle quickly discovered Oklahoma heat wasn’t exactly island paradise in the Pacific Ocean.
Castle ran about a half a mile and told Lorah, “I can’t do it.”
“I’ll never forget the little blonde coming in saying, ‘I’m just not used to this heat,’” Lorah laughed while recalling Castle’s freshman year. “She obviously adjusted to the heat.”
Castle has blossomed ever since and has raked in countless state meet medals both on the track and the cross country course.
“It was a total transformation,” Lorah said. “That freshman year she started getting better and better and by her sophomore and junior year she took off.”
While studying sports exercise science, Castle plans on running collegiately and deciding her future school by December.
Her leadership skills have rubbed off on McElhaney.
“Kamree has been the girls’ team leader the past few years and it’s helped me lead the guys along by working hard and trying to keep everybody straight,” McElhaney said. “It felt good (to see her succeed at State) because we have each other’s backs.”
It’s rare a cross country runner takes the homecoming crown, but it’s no surprise Castle bucked that trend.
“That tells you anything about the type of person Kamree is. Everybody loves her,” Lorah said. “She’s genuine and an all-around good kid. I’ll miss her tremendously.”
That feeling is mutual for Castle who closed her high school cross country chapter on a high note.
“I found my second family in cross country,” Castle said. “They’re always there for me and push me to be the best I can be.”
McElhaney’s magnificent race management
McElhaney’s recovery was far from simple.
“It was tough. It was scary,” McElhaney said. “It was a long process with lots of physical therapy and support from home. Everybody was pushing me and keeping my mindset where it needed to be.”
As McElhaney rebuilt confidence in his leg, his dedication to running soared.
“You could tell he really wanted to be back,” Elgin boys cross country coach Jon Hughes said. “I think the injury scared him a bit as far as what his running future held in general so he worked even harder to get back to 100 percent. That spurred him on to be All-State.”
McElhaney’s uncle, Corey — who graduated from Elgin before becoming a two-time All-American in the indoor 1000 meters and outdoor 800 meters in college — is the cross country coach at Southwest Baptist University in Missouri and is always giving Gage additional running insight when needed.
“It’s great because if I’m going through tough times or not running well one week I can call him and ask, ‘Hey what do I need to be doing?’ and he can set me on the right track,” McElhaney said.
With a pack of 20 runners crossing the mile mark at 5:11, McElhaney knew he had to go with them.
“I knew from the get-go I had to put myself in a good spot,” McElhaney said.
“In a race like this, kids are either too afraid to go run with the front pack or they get up with the front pack and it’s too hot for them,” explained Hughes. “At a big race, you can get lost in the crowd but Gage did a great job of finding the Piedmont guys he’s used to pacing with and he was able to finish strong.”
Around the area
Mora Bivens of Duncan finished in 27th place as the senior ran 21:46. For the Demon boys, Travis Meadows finished in 31st in 17:48, leading Duncan to a seventh place team finish with 236 points.
Calvin Wagoner of Altus finished 46th place in 18:14, one second behind Duncan’s Kevin Maldonado who finished in 45th in 18:13.